Harrier's Healer (21 page)

“That’s what I’m here for,” she responded, trembling from the

contact.

Scott apparently heard the waver in her voice, for looked at her

and winked, sending her a half smile. “Good to know. If the irritation

comes back I will just come find you.”

“Very good, Commander,” Alexis said, her eyes drawn to his

mouth as she unknowingly drew her lower lip into her mouth.

His eyes flared with desire. “I love you.” He mouthed the words

at her.

All she did was smile. And when he turned he found out why,

there was a petty officer waiting to speak to her. “Good day, Com-

mander.” Alexis waved the petty officer into her office and, with only

one quick glance at the man who held her heart; she went back to her

job.

Walking into the exercise room, Scott stopped short, almost

causing one of his teammates to run into him. Across the small room he

saw Alexis on the treadmill, running and talking with the woman she

had been with in Hong Kong. His gaze was frozen on her glistening

body until Maverick, who was with him, shoved him in the shoulder,

making him realize he was being rude and unprofessional.

As he went over to the weights, Scott watched her out of the

corner of his eye. She wore a navy blue sports bra and a pair of running

shorts with the word NAVY across the ass. Her hair was up in a pony-

tail and it swayed with every step she took.

“Man, at least sit down and pretend to be working out,” Mave-

rick whispered to him.

“What are you talking about?” Scott asked as he sat down on the

Bowflex.

“The way you are staring at that stunning doctor. You need to

stop before others pick up on it.”

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125

Scott’s eyes flew to meet the dark ones of his teammate. “I

wasn’t—”

“Please, I am not that dumb. Just don’t draw attention to your-

self.” Maverick sat down on the machine next to him.

They talked about things they planned to do when they made it

back to the States. The pair easily answered some questions that other

sailors had for them about being SEALs. And through it all, Scott kept

watch on that NAVY across the finest ass he’d ever seen in his life.

When Alexis finally got off the treadmill and turned around,

Scott got immense pleasure from watching her eyes darken as they

moved over his body. Her face was partially covered by the towel she

was using to mop the sweat off her brow but he knew her expressions.

He nodded once at something someone near him said, even as his eyes

ran boldly over her body.

“Damn, Lex,” Katie said in Spanish. “Look at those men. And

that blond one is looking over here. That’s Commander Leighton. He’s

checking us out. Well, maybe it’s you.” Unabashedly Katie roved her

eyes over the two SEALs exercising.

“I know who they are. I’ve met them before,” Alexis responded

in Spanish as she continued to blot away the sweat that seemed to be

coming even more freely now that she was looking at Scott.

“Do you know what I would give for a night with them? Either

one, I’m not picky,” Katie asked as she joined Alexis on the mat to do

their cool down.

Alexis snorted. “I can just imagine…” Closing her eyes, she

tried to focus on calming her body down, not imagining what she
had

done with one of them for a few nights. And days.

“Oh, please, you can’t tell me that you wouldn’t want a go with

either of them,” Katie teased as they stretched.

I had a go. I had many “gos” with the blond one.
“I didn’t say that.

All I said was I could imagine what you would give for a night with

them.” Refusing to open her eyes because she could feel Scott’s blue

eyes on her, Alexis continued to stretch.

“I am getting all hot and bothered just thinking about his hands

on my body,” came the breathless words.

“His?” Alexis asked.

“That blond one,” Katie said.

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Aliyah Burke

Immediately Alexis’s eyes flew open. It was all okay as long as

she’d believed that Katie wanted Maverick; but the second Alexis found

out it was Scott, she was beyond livid.

“I knew it,” Katie gushed, still speaking in Spanish. “It was

him.” Her eyes pinned a look on Alexis that she knew she couldn’t get

out of. “He can’t take his eyes off of you. And, you, I have never seen

you stretch with your eyes shut.”

“Katie,” Alexis ground out. “Keep your voice down.”

“Tell me I’m wrong,” she challenged.

Meeting the dark gaze of her friend, Alexis shook her head. “I

can’t.”

“Oh, my God,” Katie squealed, only to immediately quiet down

when people looked over at them. “We need to go talk. Now!” Tugging

on Alexis’s arm, Katie got them up and out of there before Alexis said

another word.

“They seemed to be in a rush to leave,” Maverick commented as

he watched the two women head out the door.

I want to make love to her.
“Guess so,” Scott said between reps on

the Bowflex.

“Like you didn’t notice.”

“Maverick,” came the warning.

“Hey, at least with Tyson the warning came because he was

married. What’s your reasoning?” he prodded.

Scott cut his eyes over to his teammate. “She doesn’t need to be

a conquest. Don’t even think about it, Maverick. You know what I did

to my own brother.” He let the threat hang.

“I do. But I am not saying anything bad about her.” Black eyes

glinted with trouble. “In fact, I would love to get to know her better.”

“If you want to live to your next birthday, you will stay the fuck

away from her,” Scott growled.

“Tsk, tsk, tsk. If you injure me, I will just have to go to medical,

now won’t I?”

Taking a deep breath, Scott prayed for control. “Leave her alone,

Maverick. She is mine.”

“Well,” Maverick said as he worked his legs even harder. “At

least you are finally admitting it.”

“Meaning?”

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127

“You have been trying to avoid any and all talk of her since we

found out you spent some down time with her at your cabin.” Dark

eyebrows rose and waited for the response.

“I wasn’t sure what was going to happen. I’m still not,” he ad-

mitted reluctantly.

“Man, first Tyson and now you. What is it with you? Both of

you are men, Navy SEALs, and you are scared of a woman.” Maverick

shook his head.

“One day, Maverick, one day,” Scott predicted as they climbed

off the machines and headed towards the showers. “You are going to

meet a woman who sends you spinning. All of your smooth lines and

suave moves aren’t gonna mean squat. The only thing that matters will

be the way she looks at you, like you are her whole world. You will give

up things and say things you never believed possible. And when that

day comes, I will be right there to say, ‘I told you so.’”

“There isn’t a woman alive who can sucker me like that. I like

being single.”

Scott laughed. “So did I, until one day in Norfolk when my eyes

fell upon the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. You know why I

never went out with y’all after a mission? It was because of her. No

other woman could even come close to how she made me feel.”

“Jesus, man, you sound like a sap. You sound like Tyson,” Ma-

verick teased.

“I sound like a man in love. Just you wait, man. Your turn is

coming.”

“Hell, no,” Maverick insisted and they entered the shower stalls.

An hour later, Scott was leaning on the barrier that kept him

from tumbling down onto the lower deck. Below were Alexis and her

friend who were staring out over the water watching the sun set.
I could

stare at her all day, she is so beautiful.
He stood with Maverick, who was

smoking a cigarette.

“You plan on burning a hole into her or are you going to talk to

her?” Maverick’s voice rang quietly in Scott’s ear.

“I can’t talk to her without just grabbing a hold of her. Damn it,

Mav, when I saw her in her office all I wanted to do was take her

against the wall. I don’t have any control around her. And yet, at the

same time, I can’t stop watching her and I think I am going to do

something that gets her into trouble. Maybe I should go stay on the

Endeavor
.”

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Aliyah Burke

“Damn, man, you sound tore up about this.” Maverick snubbed

out his cigarette and faced his friend.

Scott dragged his stubborn gaze off the woman he loved more

than he ever thought possible and placed it on his teammate. “James,”

he said using his friend’s first name. “Never in my entire life have I ever

felt this strongly about anyone. I don’t know how to handle these

feelings.”

“Don’t ask me, man. I just got finished telling you I love the sin-

gle life. No, really, man. For what it’s worth, I have never seen you seem

that happy to just be in the presence of a woman.” He smacked Scott on

the shoulder. “She’s good for you.”

A grin crossed the blond SEAL’s face, “You see that, too, huh?

Over two years and I just now got her to tell me she loves me. I wanted

to shout it to the whole world, but all I could do was kiss her quietly

while a corpsman sat outside the door.”

“Fraternizing on the ship…” Maverick tsked.

“Shut up, man. I don’t know how this is going to work out, but I

have to get her to accept it. This woman is like none I have ever met

before.”

Maverick held out his hands. “Please, stop with the praise train.

I know you love her, but I don’t want to hear every wonderful thing

about
your
woman…unless you were planning on sharing…” One dark

eyebrow rose.

With a harsh shout, Scott grabbed his friend around the neck.

“You must have a death wish. I wouldn’t share her for anything!”

“Okay, don’t hurt me,” Maverick teased as they disappeared in-

to the grayness of the ship.

C h a p t e r N i n e t e e n

The fresh breeze off the Pacific flowed over Alexis. She smiled as

water pelted her face. Tipping her head back, she allowed more to fall

over her. She loved the rain, especially when she was on land.

She’d been home for two weeks now. The last time she’d seen

Scott, Commander Leighton, was when they’d pulled into Hawaii. His

team had disembarked there.

Alexis had managed to steal a few more kisses from him, but the

risk was too much for her. So she had to settle for secret glances, winks,

and caresses. It was all very cloak-and-dagger, and she’d loved every

second of it, although she’d wanted nothing more than to have him

make love to her in many different ways.

Now, she stood overlooking the ocean from the cliff and enjoy-

ing the downpour. “Well, I admitted I loved him, but that doesn’t

change anything between us.”

“And why wouldn’t it change anything, my sexy little healer?”

That delicious voice wove through the raindrops to fall on her ears.

She spun around so fast she almost fell over, and his strong

body was right there to hold her. “What are you doing here?!”

“Now, now, my love, don’t you think I deserve a better welcome

than ‘what are you doing here?’” his voice teased.

Her eyes darkened with pleasure as she took a few steps back

and eyed his attire. A snug black shirt and indecently tight jeans

molded even closer with the rain, those, and a pair of hiking boots

adorned his feet. Rivulets of water ran down his face as he stood there

watching her with a sexy grin.

Alexis sucked her lower lip into her mouth as she walked to-

wards him, the seductive sway of her hips clearly enchanting him given

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Aliyah Burke

the way his eyes darkened. Dark hands slid up his wet shirt to hook

behind his neck. Her eyes were sultry as she pulled his head towards

her.

Her mouth brushed against his before her tongue traced his lips.

Slipping between them, her tongue invaded his warmth. The first touch

was electric. Shockwaves pulsated through both bodies as his arms slid

around her back, drawing her in closer.

The skies opened up, sending down torrents of rain on the

couple. It didn’t matter; they continued to stand in each other’s arms,

lips locked and souls intertwined. Strong hands began to pull up her

shirt. “Lex,” he moaned into her mouth.

“How about this for a ‘welcome’?” she purred as her hands

went to work on his pants.

He drew back from her intoxicating mouth. “What are we

doing?”

Looking up at him beneath the rain dripping down her face, she

murmured, “Well, I know how long it has been for me, and know what

I am doing, but maybe I wasn’t good enough for you. Or whoever you

were with last wasn’t.”

A wicked glint entered his gaze. “Oh, that last woman I was

with left her mark on me. And trust me, she was
all
good.” He regarded

how her shirt molded to her body, her nipples visible against the fabric.

“Was she now?” Alexis quipped as her eyes narrowed.

“Most definitely.” His hips bucked against her pelvis. “Would